According to Damen, L. (1987, he defined culture as a way people learned and shared human patterns or models for living, day- to-day living patterns. these patterns and models pervade all aspects of human social interaction. Culture is mankind’s primary adaptive mechanism” (p. 367). But what happened at Some way in Awka few days ago was what some people said it was the right thing to do while some saw it as something that breaks the law of human right.

A young girls was flogged by a masquerade, when I was trying to know what could have cause six young boys to beat up a guy like people that is chasing rat in the bush (a mass beaten), I was told that the young girl was flogged because she saw their Mmanwu (masquerade) and stand firmly without fear and that tradition demands that when ever a female sees a masquerade, she was must run away.

The young man that was beaten up was said to have come from another town outside Awka. He was pursued with some sticks after he tried to defend the young girl that was flogged.

When speaking with the young man, he said that the way they beat the young girls is not proper thing to do. Quoting Convention on the Rights of a Child, he said that UNICEF’s mission was to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. He also said that UNICEF is guided in doing this by the provisions and principles of the Convention on the Rights of a Child.

He said that the Convention is a universal agreement set up for non-negotiable standards and obligations and in that convention, basic standards— are also called human rights—setting minimum entitlements and freedoms that should be respected by governments and individual.

That a child is founded on respect for the dignity and worth of each individual, regardless of race, colour, gender, language, religion, opinions, origins, wealth, birth status or ability and therefore apply to every human being everywhere.

When I interviewed some people around the city (Okada riders) they said that when ever festival comes, some of masquerade and the followers normally used that opportunity to collect on necessary money from them and if they refused to give them the money they will flog then their cane or even spoil their machine.

When I tried to hear from one of the member of the community, he told me that is a good thing to flog the girl, saying that during their days, such kind of thing will have never happen, that women never comes out to see the masquerade at all. He said that the report I got from the Okada riders (Machine Riders) was not true, saying that the people that is used to such acts are people from another community.

When I spoke with the young girl, she told me that he was told that masquerade are meant for entertainment, that she didn’t know that flogging people is part of the entertainment lol.

The word mmanwu, is a traditional masquerade of the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria. This tradition revolves around work and entertainment, and to the Igbo people, masquerade is a major form of entertainment. The masquerade revolves around their community and masquerades can differ from village to village Masquerades generally last for a few weeks, however some may span over a few months. These events are frequently performed during the end of the harvesting season and the start of the new planting season. Masquerades are used to honor the dead and pray to the gods for a successful planting season.

The living-dead are what these masquerade/spirits embody. Igbo people believe that the dead never actually die; rather they remain in a “personal immortal state”. They reside somewhere between the earthly world and the spiritual world. These living-dead are believed to be closely related to those of the village.

Since men are masqueraders, they are buried within their homes so their spirits may be close to their families (Chiene 10). The living-dead then return to the earthly world from time to time to offer spiritual advice. It is the living-dead, who the masquerade portrays.

Now the question is, will we abolish traditional laws because of human right? Was it true that our ancestors normally visit us during harvesting season and the start of the new planting season? Will human right comes into Tradition?
Udonna reporting from Nigeria